


Look What We Lost

by nuandia



Category: The Thundermans
Genre: AU Future, Amnesia, Amnesiac!Max, Evil!Phoebe, Future Fic, Insecurities, Past Torture, The author has literally no idea how to use tags, Written pre season 3 so Chloe's aging is a bit different
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-06-10 12:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6956239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuandia/pseuds/nuandia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Future Fic: After the unknown events a few years earlier, Phoebe Thunderman changes for good. She becomes ruthless and cold and rules the town after defeating the super heroes. There is nobody she cares about anymore, except her twin brother who has been in a coma for the last couple of years. Meanwhile the heroes have regrouped to plot to take down Phoebe. The perfect moment to wake up, but is Max still the same?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you like my idea. I have a few chapters stored but no idea how things will go after that. Also this story is unbetad so all mistakes are mine. And please keep in mind, the author is a non-native speaker. If there are errors or mistakes in the story please let me know to check. Thank you. Now I hope you have fun.

The Beginning

 

_She is freezing. Her fingers feel numb and her stomach is growling. She stopped eating the food a few days ago. It is just drugging her anyway and if she wants to escape she needs a clear mind. She needs to be herself, just one mistake and everything will be over. She can't let that happen. Not only for her, but also him. She has to see him again. Hence the plan she has figured out._  
It's not thought over thoroughly but it has to be good enough. For now. It is easy enough.  
She has to get the right moment. If she misses it, her plan won't work. She has one chance and she has to make good use of that. Not only won't her power be enough for a second time, but she knows she'll be punished for misbehaving, not eating her food, being clear headed. But worse is, that then he'll know that she has a key, nicked from one of the minions. And it will be gone and all of her efforts will be worthless. 

_Phoebe inhales slowly and then the door opens. With one hard slap she uses her telekinetic power to throw the man against the wall and then she runs. The cold metal of the key sharp in her hand. She thinks she draws blood by holding it so tightly._

_But it doesn't matter. She has to go on, fight her tired body to not give up now. She is close. She is so close. The fear of what is going to happen to her and him if she doesn't succeed makes her go even faster._

_Ten,eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Here it is. This is the door. She trips on her way to hurry closer and then fumbles with the key while trying to fit it in the keyhole. It is a little more difficult because the blood makes it slippery._

_Then-finally it is open and she walks in, right to the little bed in the corner. She softly strokes over the white skin on her brother's face, leaving a few red marks on its way._

_“Max, come on. Wake up, we've got to go.”_

_“Who is Max?”, he mumbles sleepily and just then fully looks at her, the brown eyes innocent and scared but at the same time it looks like he does remember her. Recognition flashing in his eyes, enough to make him sit up and look at her more closely._

_“I know you, don't I?”_

_“Yes, you do. I'm Phoebe, I'm your sister. Come on now, we have to leave”._

_Without saying anything against it he stands up and follows her, taking her hand to make sure she is still here. She has no idea why, but he can always remember her. Or at least he knows that he can trust her. He couldn't take that from Max, no matter how much he tried._

_“Where are we going?” he asks and Phoebe simply mumbles, “home.”She is sure he has no idea what home means, at least now it has no meaning to him, but right now it is most important that he is with her. And for the moment, nothing else matters. They hurry along, not wasting another minute, Max' hand slippery in hers. It dawns to her, that it's her blood that makes it so hard to hold onto her brother's hand._

_“Don't let go”, she whispers back and she can feel instantly how his hand tightens around hers, his nails digging into her flesh._

_“Come on”, she urges him on, dragging him through the corridors. She has no idea where the exit is, but she knows, that when she stops, they'll be found. Her condition is very low, she hasn't run in a very long time, her limbs are tired and by Max' heavy breathing she knows that he can't keep up with her pace for much longer either. Better they hide for now. Phoebe runs to one of the many doors and opens up, closing the door once Max is safe inside._

_“Maybe we should put something in front of the door”, Max suggests but Phoebe shakes her head._

_“No, they'll know then that we're in that room. We've got to hide for now”, she tugs him gently after her. The room is big and dark. The furniture is made of heavy and dark wood. She guides Max behind a table and sits down, trusting that the darkness will keep them hidden from any searching eye._

_Max looks around, still breathing heavily. For the first time in weeks she can look at him in peace. He looks wrecked, there are dark circles under his eyes, his face looks thinner and bones are showing from the malnourishment they both had to endure. But there is also a tiredness in his eyes and an underlying panic. She wonders where that comes from. Because he doesn't even know who he is? He can't even remember what he did to them. But maybe his body remembers and he just knows it's right to escape from here. She sure hopes so._

_“We'll get out of here”, she says to him, smiling. He returns the smile but stays quiet. They don't have anything to eat or drink for now, which doesn't make their situation any better. Phoebe can't even remember when she last ate._

_“We need to get out of the building”, she says to him._

_“And how do we do that? Do you know which way will lead us out of here?”_

_She sighs and shakes her head. “No, I have no idea which way to go, but I do know, that if we don't act fast, we'll be caught. Can you run again?”_

_“I'll be fine”, he says, his gaze caught on her hand. She forgot about the blood. It's already crusting and she wipes her hand on her gown. A red stain stays on her otherwise white fabric._

_She takes Max' hand with her other one and walks to the door quietly. After she made sure there's nobody in the hallway, she starts to run._

_“Come on, faster” she coaxes him. They keep running, but never see any guards. That's not right. Phoebe doesn't think that he wouldn't try to catch them again. But … maybe he didn't wake up yet? Maybe the blow to his head was harder than she thought. She dearly hopes so._

_Her hope is destroyed suddenly, when they run around a corner. There, at the end of the hallway is the exit, she is sure about that. And before that are standing at least ten guards and more importantly, him._

_“Turn around”, she whispers panicked, but once she looks over her shoulder, there are also guards, staring at them, lacking any possible feelings._

_“So nice of you to join us”, he says, his sharp teeth piercing his lips. It looks unnatural._

_“Well, you know, we don't want to disturb your party, we'll just leave”, she says. His gaze lands on Max and Phoebe can feel how his grasp tightens around her hand. She likes that, it's kind of a reminder that Max is still there. He remembers a little bit, enough to know that this man surely is not a good one. She wonders whether her brother remembers what that creature in front of them did to them._

_“Oh, but I can't let you leave, you are … the honoured guests of my little party”, he steps closer, red lips glistering in the hallway light. Phoebe stays where she is. If she backs away, she knows that the guards will take them down faster than anything she knows._

_“Just let us leave”, she says, her voice sounding almost desperately. Her hand is shaking. Or is it Max'?_

_“You know I can't do that”, he says seriously and then suddenly starts laughing. “Of course I can do that. I just don't want to. There still is so much to do with the two of you. I still haven't figured you out”._

_He steps slowly closer, stretching one arm out towards her. They don't have enough strength to fight back seriously. They'll be throw back into their cells, possibly never be able to see each other again._

_She won't allow it._

_Her hand grasps Max' tighter._

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Barb swallows heavily, fighting her tears which are about to slide over her cheeks. She has to be strong for Billy and Nora. Although she wants nothing more than to cry. She wants to grab her comatose son and never let go of him until he wakes up._

_If he ever woke up, she remembers the words of Max' doctor. There is no indication that he'll wake up. Barb feels tears welling up and closes her eyes, breathing deeply, but the pain from losing her son is just too big. She doesn't even know how to tell Phoebe. It's been months and all she does after school is coming right to the hospital, watching over her twin, reading him homework and telling him what is happening at home. Sometimes Cherry comes too. It's lovely to see how much the girl loves her daughter, that she doesn't mind spending her days in a hospital, talking to Max like he is awake. Sometimes Phoebe's best friend even can get her away, spend the day in a mall, in the park, just somewhere but the hospital and Barb is so thankful for that._

_“Phoebe”, Barb says, opening the door to Max' room. Her daughter looks up from her maths book. She has been doing her homework, talking to Max while she wrote down different equations for the different maths problems._

_She still looks horrible. Her eyes are sunken in and her slowly getting more healthy body still shows bone. Her cheeks are redden and raw. Even though her bruises are all gone by now and her broken bones fixed, she looks almost as bad as the day they returned._

_“What is it?”, she asks. Her voice sounds exhausted and her red rimmed and tired looking eyes focus on her._

_“We just talked to the doctor”, she swallows heavily, stepping closer to Phoebe and then kneels in front of her, taking her hands in hers. “It might be time to let him go”, Barb can't help her voice from getting thick and cracking at the last word._

_Phoebe looks at her confused for a moment, then pulls her hands away from her mother, shaking her head violently. Her eyes are glistering with tears, threatening to fall over her red cheeks._

_“No. No, you can't let that happen. He'll wake up, I know he will. He'll wake up and it'll be all right. We'll be fine. It's-”, she stops, wipes a few tears from her eyes. “It's almost time. You see, he'll wake up soon”._

_It breaks her heart seeing her daughter like this, clinging to her twin brother like never before. And even though she can understand Phoebe, understands the urge to stay with Max until he is well, she has to let go. Otherwise it will destroy her. Phoebe needs to live again._

_“Sweetie, he's been comatose for so long now. He won't wake up.” it hurts Barb herself to say those words, but it is true and she has to live with it. She has four other children who need to be loved. She can't allow that Max' death will stop her from that. No matter how horrible it is to lose him. She feels like a piece of her is getting ripped out of her heart. This is not a situation a mother should have to live with._

_“No. No, he will wake up, I know that”, Phoebe mumbles, pulling her knees up to her chest and staring over to Max._

_She wants to reach out, place her hand on her daughter's shoulder, but she shrugs it off, staring at her brother. Hot tears silently sliding over her sensitive cheeks._

_It breaks Barb's heart._

_\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Chloe is snuggling her head into the crook of her neck, small tears rolling down Barb's collarbone and into the soft fabric of her shirt. Billy and Nora are both close to her and Hank who has an arm around her, holding her tight to him. Phoebe is standing alone, next to Max, not even looking at them._

_“You are letting him die”, she said the day before, her voice full of venom she never knew Phoebe possessed._

_They all said goodbye to Max earlier, tears streaming down their faces and now the doctor stands next to Max' life-support devices, about to turn them off._

_Phoebe is standing there, unmoving and her hands balled to fists. Her head is lowered, her hair covering her face like a curtain._

_“I am sorry”, the doctor says and then turns his back towards the family, working on the machine. The heart monitor makes a horrible tone and then everything goes to hell. The doctor is getting pulled away by an invisible force, the heart monitor beeping normally again._

_“Don't touch him”, Phoebe hisses, voice cold and eyes blazing._

_“Phoebe”, Hank starts and then Phoebe flicks her wrist and all of them fall back. Chloe screams against her neck. Barb presses her hands against her youngest, shielding her._

_“Phoebe, please”._

_“I'm not letting you kill him. He is not dead yet and he will wake up”, the room starts to get cooler, Barb's breathing is turning into small clouds._

_“Phoebe”, Nora cries horrified, fisting the seam of her mother's shirt. “Phoebe stop it”._

_The teenager looks up, watching her family and then shakes her head, a sad and disappointed smile turning her lips slightly upwards. “No.”_

_And then they black out._

_When they wake up, hours later, the door is closed through Phoebe's freeze breath and their twins gone._


	2. Everything's Coming Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say this chapter is here earlier than I have actually planned. I don't know when I'll be able to post the next one with slowly exams coming up and more presentations to give, but I won't abandon this story.  
> So, I hope you like the chapter :)  
> If you do, why not let me know ... :)

**Everything's Coming Together**

_five years later_

A woman is standing on a roof, her hair blowing in the wind and her face sad, her features are twisted in resentment and pain. Metroville, Hiddenville both are destroyed, buildings burned and many people living on the street, begging for bread or money. And usually getting nothing. If it weren't for those last superheroes, they'd have starved already. She can't even blame the people who still have a home. Those people are too concerned with surviving that they can't take care of anyone else. Family goes over everything else, she understands. 

Only those who pledged eternal loyalty have better living circumstances.

The time of the superheroes is gone. To be clear, there isn't even a time of super villains, no, there is just one super villain. And she rules the country. Funny, how life can turn out to be. Ten years ago, everyone who knew Phoebe Thunderman would have agreed, that she'd become the world's greatest superhero. But fate had other plans. Nobody dares to go against her, she is known of being ruthless and brutal. 

The woman sighs and shakes her head. She wishes so often to just change the past, but she can't. She will never be able to do that and it breaks her heart even more each day. She lost two of her children. One dead, never being able to wake up again, to look at her and smile at her and the other one she lost to the dark side. A villain. Phoebe, her innocent, good girl turned dark and it still seems so hard to grasp sometimes. But then again, when she see her darling daughter, it isn't hard to understand. At least Phoebe is still alive, whereas Max … 

Barb Thunderman turns her head away from the scene and retreats back into the building, the superhero headquarters. And she hopes that somehow, everything will be just fine. Even though her hopes are fading each day a little more. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Phoebe Thunderman rubs a hand against her forehead, trying to get rid of the annoying headache. It doesn't really hurt but the continuing poking against her head doesn't help her concentrating. She sits down onto her chaise and powers her laptop up. She's got a lot to do. She is controlling the city … who is she kidding, she is controlling the country for crying out loud. It's not like she ever planned on these developments but it had to be done. She smiles ruefully and turns her head to the cage in the corner of the room. A white and black rabbit is sitting in it, eyeing Phoebe carefully, before it dares to speak. 

“Phoebe?”

The young woman makes a humming sound, a sign that she is acknowledging the rabbit and allowing it to speak. 

“Did … did something change?”

The only reason she still has that damned bunny is because it is as concerned for that one and only important thing in her life as she is. She knows, because of that, the bunny will always do what is right for her and it actually is giving some pretty good advice. 

“Nothing changed when I saw him this morning”, Phoebe informs him, her voice cold and flat. Her fingers fly over the keyboard, typing commands and checking the cameras. She can't have the superheroes intrude into her lands. It is a miracle that they were able to regroup after the big blast that destroyed their last headquarters. Phoebe doesn't know how many people died and she doesn't care. Those people are against her although she never intended to hurt them. It all started so innocently, so bright and hopeful. But they were against her, thought her delusional and crazy and Phoebe just had enough. She had to get her way. For _him_. It's really not her fault, that those people can't see that. 

She sighs. Her eyes are getting tired and before she plans on sleeping, she has to see him. Just one more time. 

A little smile is tugging on her corners of her mouth. It's the only good thing she has nowadays. 

She leaves the room and enters the one bordering to this one. It is clean and looks more like a hospital room. Everywhere are test tubes and syringes and this smell of hand sanitizer. 

In the middle is a bed, a young male is connected through wires and tubes to a machine which is keeping him alive. His skin is ghostly white. 

“Max”, Phoebe murmurs and softly strokes over his cheeks. Even tough he is warm, he feels faintly cold. It's been years since she's seen his eyes awake and full of life. Since she's seen him laugh and smile and smirk. Since she's seen him move at all. 

She misses him so much, he is the last part of her family that is left. The last part of her family that will take her side. That will be _with her_. 

“You know, it's time for you to wake up. You've been asleep for an awfully long time now”, Phoebe swallows heavily, her eyes are getting moist and slowly she feels a tear run down her cheek. “I will be waiting for you, okay”, she murmurs. 

She takes one last look at her sleeping brother and then leaves, closing the door carefully behind her. She is tired, all she wants now is to fall asleep in her bed and then wake up the next day … with Max awake. 

She closes the door softly behind her and then barks commands at her villain in second place. They're not tight. Why should they? They just admire her power and what she is able to do and as long as she will continue her way, they will follow her. Plus they are afraid of her, because if you're not with Phoebe Thunderman, you are against her and these people have seen from a close range what she is capable of doing. Phoebe rubs her eyes and retreats to her rooms, getting rid of her super villain clothes and shrugs one of Max' old t-shirts on to sleep. His scent has long gone from them but he still feels closer to him. If he could just wake up. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He knows when Phoebe's been personally there. He always feels chills running down his back. He'd love to claim that his little girl is just confused but he can't. Not after everything she's done and it breaks his heart seeing her the way she is now. Her black clothes are tight and she looks dark and dangerous. This time though, she's gone when he appears at the centre of destruction. It's a family home, the habitants have taken in beggars whenever they could, shared their food and have been overall simply been kind-hearted people. Now they're dead. Burned bones are laying on the floor, the walls are destroyed and even though the attack wasn't even an hour ago, the place has already been ravaged. 

Hank shakes his head and walks over to Barb. Tears are shining in her eyes and she averts her gaze when she sees him coming. They share their pain in losing their firstborns. Looking at Chloe, Billy and Nora is hard sometimes. They share their features with the twins. One year ago Chloe has had her mischief streak and she resembled Max so much that Barb locked herself in the bathroom and didn't come out for several hours. Hank was left to calm their little girl because she thought her mummy was mad at her. 

“We can still save her”, Barb says and there is so much conviction in her voice that Hank stays quiet because he doesn't want to disappoint her. 

Maybe. Maybe there's hope. 

Looking around him, Hank doubts it though. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing he hears is an annoying beeping close to his ear. Slowly, it's dragging him towards consciousness. 

His brain is feeling fuzzy and weird. It's hard to grasp a thought. It's much easier to just process what is happening right in front of him and that is a brightness hurting his eyes. He groans and tries to sit up, his limbs are heavy and uncoordinated. It takes three times until he is able to rub over his eyes. When he moves his arms, he feels something touching him. Slowly, he turns his head down and blinks his eyes open. There are tubes coming out of his arm. With a sudden jolt of panic he rips them out. Blood is running down his arm, forming a puddle on the white sheets. The contrast is stark against his skin and bed. He inhales and exhales in slow, steady breaths and tries to calm himself. It won't hep him to panic now. 

When he has calmed himself enough that it doesn't feel like is heart is hammering against his chest, he looks around the room. It's white, both the walls and the floor. The bed he lies on is soft, his clothes are white and clean, but thin. He feels himself shivering but gets up nevertheless. When his feet touch the cold floor and his legs are carrying his weight he feels his legs give out under him. Frantically he clutches the bed and keeps himself halfway upright. 

His proper thinking is slowly coming back and he wonders what he is doing here, where is he and most importantly: who the hell is he. He can't remember. He can't remember a thing of who he is, what he likes, who his family is or what his name is. What is this place? It does not look like a hospital, so did someone keep him here? Maybe experiment on him? The thought makes him shiver and he feels dread climbing up his belly. Somehow he knows there is a definite possibility of someone having done something like that to him. The next time he tries to stand, his legs are holding him upright and he takes a few careful steps until he decides to go and investigate this place further. 

Slowly he walks to the door and opens it a slit. 

The next room is more comfortable, a flat tv-screen hanging on the wall, sofas standing opposite the tv and there is even a rabbit in a cage stuffed with pillows sitting next to the sofa standing on the far left side. He enters the seemingly empty room and watches the little animal in the cage sleeping peacefully. He comes closer, somehow fascinated and smiles softly. Now he sees that the cage door is open so … maybe his captors are not horrible people? He contemplates going through everything again without any prejudices but then the rabbit opens its eyes and it _screeches_.

“You're awake. Oh, you're awake old pal, I am so happy. We should celebrate. Well, it only took you six years, so hey, no pressure.”

He tumbles a few feet away, eyes open wide. “You talk … how can you talk? Stop talking” his voice feels rough in his throat. Dimly he wonders for how long he didn't speak. His mind isn't able yet to process the animal's words because it speaks.

The door opens and a guard rushes in, running right towards him and no, no, they will probably make him go to sleep again. “Don't move”, the guard grunts and yeah, it's not helping. The man grabs his arms and tries to get him down to the floor by pressing his weight on top of his.

Panic is filling him hot and fast and with an unconscious flick of his wrist the guard crashes against the wall, knocked out cold. 

He is breathing heavily and … oh God did he do that? He was just afraid, he … how did he do that? He shakes his head. That couldn't possibly have been him now, right? He sets his eyes onto the exit and practically trips towards it. 

“Wait, no, … wait don't leave”, screams the rabbit and for a moment he debates whether he should take it with him, but then it starts calling for guards and, no, he won't be captured again. He starts running.  



	3. Run Until Your Lungs Give Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first off, a warning. I am in my exam preparation phase which means I am not sure how much time I have to finish the chapters. There are rough drafts, but they take time to finish so … well. It will probably take some time until I'll upload the next chapter, but I will NOT abandon this fic, so please hang in there. Six exams in two weeks don't study for themselves, as much as I wish they would.  
> A bit off topic, was anyone else hugely disappointed by the crossover episode danger and thunder? I loved The Haunted Thundermans which is probably why I was so thrown off when the episode had a fairly good start but then went down the drain.  
> Well, whatever, sorry for the ranting. I really hope you enjoy the next chapter. And if anyone wants to grace me with their opinion, they are immensely welcome  
> Thank you.

**Run Until Your Lungs Give Out**

 

Chloe Thunderman's life has not been what she hoped it would be. Sure, she is only eight years old, but she is smart. She knows her siblings are trying to keep her out of the loop but she eavesdropped into too many conversations to not know what everything is about. 

She loves her family. Mum, Dad, Billy and Nora. Those are the ones she knows. But they are not everything. She once sneaked out of her room and stole a picture book from when she wasn't born and what she found was a boy and a girl. Twins. Phoebe and Max did the photos say. 

After she's been found with the picture book, her older sister told her of Phoebe and Max, of their disappearance, of their coming back and of Max. Her eyes were bright and shining with tears, laughing and simply warm. She told her so much of Max, that Chloe almost forgot to ask about Phoebe. Almost. When she did, Nora closed off. _She's evil now_ were her words and she stood up and walked out. 

She never dared to ask Mum about them. She always looked sad, has always been as long as Chloe can remember. Billy told her that it wasn't always like that, their mother was usually a happy person, a wonderful person but after … . After everything she's been through there's always been a certain sadness surrounding her wherever she went. 

She can hear crying now through the door and her father saying something in a muffled voice. Chloe shakes her head, saddend by her surroundings and walks up to the window. She opens it and looks out, the city black and dark outside. 

But there is hope. She doesn't know how she knows it, but hope has finally awoken. She smiles to herself, wishing that this glimmer of hope will unite her family again. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He is struggling for breath. His unused lungs are aching terribly and he has the feeling he is about to black out. Somehow he was able to hide himself in one of the rooms. After he heard guards running around he decided that hiding might be the better option for now. 

He is lucky with the room he chose. It looks like the room hasn't been entered in a long time. There is dust literally everywhere, covering bookcases and chairs, tables. It looks more like a storage room than like a room someone would be able to actually live in. There is stuff everywhere. He decided to hide behind a couple of boxes until everything has calmed down. Which is where he still is, trying to regain a normal breathing pattern. Slowly he opens his eyes again. He didn't even notice that he closed them and tries to look more closely, still waiting.

The light is faint, coming in from the curtain-closed window. 

After about ten minutes he gets bored though and he thinks that he isn't used to waiting patiently. His breathing has calmed and he doesn't feel as dizzy anymore. So he starts to dig around in one of the boxes. The first thing he touches is cold and smooth to the touch. He takes it out and looks at it. A mirror. He stares at himself in the picture and … wow, is that really him? He feels so much younger right now. There is light stubble on his face and his skin is stretched tightly over bone. His skin is white and his hair looks dull and his eyes tired and curious. He supposes that's about right. He takes a deep breath and then puts the mirror away, reaching into the box for the next thing which turns out to be some kind of book. He opens it carefully and what he sees makes him gasp. There's him, surrounded by different people. 

Why would his kidnapper have a picture book of him? Did he stalk him? He swallows and decides to push the stalker thought out of his head. For now. 

He leans over further and looks at every figure closely. There's a really young girl- a blond child grinning at the camera. She looks like one-two at most. He guesses the girl is blonde, he can't really see with the bad lighting. The girl is carried by a woman, she looks older, about forty, with long brown hair and a happy smile. Her eyes are warm and alight with happiness. Next to her is a boy, grinning hugely at the camera, brown hair flat on his head but he looks happy. Next up is an older girl. She's a teenager and standing right next to picture-him. Her hair is long and did in a stylish way. Her eyes are soft and her smile warm. He feels drawn to her right from the start and keeps staring at her. He feels a yearning for her, but he has no idea where it come from. Though he is sure, she must've meant a lot to him. Then comes himself, a more muscular and healthier version of himself with great hair and a smirk on his lips. He wonders what kind of a person he has been. Then there's another girl, younger again with a bow in her hair. Her smile is sweet and she looks cute but there is some kind of knowledge and deviousness behind her eyes. The last one is an overweight man. He smiles proudly and has his hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

He pauses. Could this be his family? Did they miss him? Were they looking for him? He sighs, leaning back and closes his eyes. He still has no clue where he is, but he supposes it has to be some sort of experiment laboratorium, judging on the talking bunny. And he knows with certainity, he does not want to go back. To the cold rooms, his brain supplies suddenly. He doesn't know what that means but it definitely doesn't feel good.

He rips the family picture out of the book and puts it in his pocket, then he stands up and presses his ear at the door. It's quietened down. So he dares to step out and creeps down the floors. His heart beating loudly in his chest as he does. He stops every often and just listens, daring to continue to walk when there is nothing but silence. 

Suddenly there is a voice behind him, calling out for him to stop. It only causes him to run and run, through different rooms until one door shows him freedom. He doesn't slow down, and simply runs farther away, the voice behind him vanishing after a few minutes but he keeps on running.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barb walks over to the round table. Maps and plans are spread out onto it, spilling secrets and other important messages. Nora just told her goodbye. Rationally she knows that she is a superhero and she has a certain duty to fulfil but her traitorous heart doesn't agree. She remembers so clearly the last time she told her twins goodbye, before there were abducted. She didn't think of anything bad then and then there were gone. 

Nowadays superheroes don't even have the right to disagree to fight. There are so few of them now and they need every power they can get. 

Blankly she looks at a picture of Phoebe, taken last week. Her hair in a strict pony-tail, her eyes dark with eye-liner and dark eye-shadow. Her face dark and vicious, jaw set. She doesn't even look like her girl and still she isn't able to fight her. She had the chance once, standing opposite of Phoebe. She was about blow up a company working against her and then Barb met her daughter. She talked to her, but Phoebe was deaf on whatever Barb tried to tell her. She tried to reason with her, hell she even begged. But all Phoebe did was laugh cruelly. 

It's their fault that she's evil now. 

She inhales deeply and then exhales, trying to calm her heart. She can't just give up on her daughter, now can she? Carefully she sits down, looking over the plans. After hours and hours of begging she was able to compromise with the current leader, Red Fist. Capturing Phoebe instead of killing her. Exceptions are if the life of the superhero is in danger. Then he or she is allowed to use forces to kill the young woman. Twenty-two. Phoebe is twenty-two. If she'd just know what happened in the two years her children were gone. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He collapses in an abandoned building. As much as he's seen from the city, everything's abandoned and destroyed. He wonders what happens. Is the town dangerous? What happened and why does it seem so quiet and dark? 

His first task, though, is to find his family. 

He pulls the picture out of his pocket and stares at it. There's got to be somebody left, right? Somebody he can come home to? Someone must have missed him and he hopes it's the people on the picture grinning at him. 

He yawns. His eyelids feel heavy. Weird, he thinks, he did sleep … for how long? He doesn't know, but he shouldn't be sleepy already. It feels wrong. He bites down his lower lip, feeling the pain making him a little more awake and then searches for an empty room which looks at least a little safe but also is easy to escape from. 

As soon as he finds it, he curls in on himself in a corner and falls asleep. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Search Team Music?”

“Present”

“Search Team Lightning”

“Present”.

“Search Team ...” 

Nora isn't even listening anymore. She has already received her mission. The same as always. Look around the town for survivors or homeless people. Get them to a safe place and go on. If complications occur try to get to home base as fast as possible. If not possible send silent alarm. 

She looks over to Billy who smiles warmly at her. As soon as she was old enough, both volunteered for the hero program. Saving citizens. Their mum had cried but Hank had looked proudly at them even though there was worry etched into the way he smiled. Nowadays Barb wasn't able to let her children go. She just couldn't. She already lost two. 

“Good luck teams”, the instructor said and Nora jumped onto Billy's back and he started running. Since he grew quite a bit and got muscles through his constant running, this had been their team up. They knew everything about each other so trusting was easy. 

“Here we are”, Billy grinned and Nora climbed off Billy's back. The alley was dark, everything in this god damned town was. 

“Let's go”, Nora says and creeps silently along, her powers always ready in case something happens, her Thundersense on high alert. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Max wakes up to voices talking. He cracks his eyes open, realising just then exactly where he is and sits up rigidly. Those guards might still be after him so he gets up and carefully sneaks up to a female voice. He hides himself behind some kind of pillar and looks around. It's gotten darker and his eyes are still getting used to the new light. Then, slowly, a shape appears. It's a teenager he guesses, dressed in some sort of costume. The girl comes closer and that is when he recognises her. If he isn't wrong, that is the girl he saw in the pictures. Only older, her hair tucked in a strict pony tail and her features sharp and calculating. No bow on her head. He really hopes he might get some answers from her, but the way she moves, fluid and careful, watchful, he doubts that she'll just stop and talk to him. 

He worries his lower lip for a moment and then inhales deeply. Okay, he has no idea how he did the thing with the guard, but he is sure he can do it somehow. There is a force in him that does what he wants and somehow he has to activate it. He concentrates on the teenager, but nothing happens. She doesn't move one bit. He steps slightly out of the shadow, his gaze still fixed on the girl, when a force knocks him down. He coughs and then someone grabs his arms and presses them against his back. He thinks it's knees that dig into his back and he starts to panic. No, no, no he can't get caught again. What will those people even do to him? He's got to break free. 

“Nora”, someone shouts from his back and then he hears someone approaching him. 

“This guy was watching you”, the guy says, his voice sounds serious and cold. But somehow still familiar. It's not like he can place the voice. It's more like a tingling sensation in the back of his head. It's irritating and annoying. 

“Who is it?”, the female voice from earlier asks and he really hopes it's the teenager, he wanted to talk to. 

“No idea”, a hand grasps into his hair and pulls his head forcefully up. He hisses at the pain and looks up to the teenager. Her face turns from cold to disbelieving and then she looks over him, to the guy holding him. 

“Billy, _look at him_ ”. 

The person holding him lets go and rounds him. He scrambles up to his feet, inching closer to the wall behind him. 

“Max, is that you?”, he breathes and steps closer to him, his face matching the disbelieving look on the girl's . 

“Who is Max?”, he croaks out, keeping his distance. Slowly it was getting creepy. The boy, well young man was taller than him, his face looks peaceful but at the same time curious and confused and he can't connect it to that cold voice he heard just moments ago. His features look familiar but he is not sure at this point. They step closer and he, backs away until he feels the wall in his back, rough stones digging into his sensitive flesh. They share a small look and then the boy nods to Nora's next words. 

“We gotta take him with us”.


End file.
